📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 14 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 3 · La sintaxis compleja
La elipsis
Module 14 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 14 of 30: Spanish leaves out what the reader can supply, and it does so more readily than English. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
unos… otros
some… others
OO-nohs… OH-trohs
unos sí, otros no
some yes, others no
OO-nohs see, OH-trohs noh
la elipsis
the ellipsis
lah eh-LEEP-sees
sobreentender un verbo
to leave a verb understood
soh-breh-ehn-tehn-DEHR oon BEHR-boh
el jazz
jazz
ehl YAHS
recargar
to weigh down
rreh-kar-GAR
suplir
to supply
soo-PLEER
rápido
fast (m)
RRAH-pee-doh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Spanish leaves out what the reader can supply, and it does so more readily than English. Unos se iban, otros se quedaban. Unos sí, otros no.
Y también · And also
The most common ellipsis is the repeated verb, and Spanish marks it with a comma: Pablo prefiere el jazz; María, el rock. There is no second verb and none is missed. Writing one would slow the sentence without adding anything.
Ojo · Watch out
unos… otros pairs without articles: unos se iban, otros se quedaban. The verb left out is marked by a COMMA: María, el rock — that comma stands for prefiere, and a Spanish reader hears it.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with unos… otros.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 14 in Module 14 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.